Tag: UFC 196

Conor McGregor & Rafael dos Anjos No Longer Fighting At UFC 197

UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos will no longer defend his title against featherweight boss Conor McGregor at UFC 197, in a week of crazy MMA news and injuries… The UFC has been through a pretty crappy week to round out January 2016, and it all started with a Cain Velasquez injury that’s snowballed to

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UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos will no longer defend his title against featherweight boss Conor McGregor at UFC 197, in a week of crazy MMA news and injuries…

The UFC has been through a pretty crappy week to round out January 2016, and it all started with a Cain Velasquez injury that’s snowballed to effect literally every UFC card for the rest of the damn year! How crazy is this? So, two weeks removed from his UFC 196 title rematch with Fabricio Werdum on February 6, 2016, the former champ Velasquez pulls out with a back injury. It sucked, sure, but it wasn’t the end of the card.

Stipe Miocic was drafted in to face ‘Vai Cavalo,’ saving the card with his risky gamble of fighting the champ on just 14 days notice, but it wasn’t over, not by a long shot. The drama continued, as Werdum himself withdrew, stating he was ready to fight Velasquez, but not Miocic at UFC 196. He said he wasn’t 100 percent and didn’t want to face an opponent he hadn’t trained for while nursing a few injuries.

Stipe Werdum

So then came the news that UFC 196 would be aired on FOX Sports 1, and suddenly every heavyweight with a win streak was asking to face Miocic now Werdum was out of the running. There was even discussion of an interim title, similar to how Conor McGregor was granted the interim strap against Chad Mendes at UFC 189 this year, but that’s not the only reason ‘The Notorious’ is involved in the story.

The mess caused at the original UFC 196 ground zero has literally effected every single UFC card of 2016. Firstly, this is what UFC 196 is being repackaged as now:

196

Yes, the event has officially been downgraded to UFC Fight Night 82, and as a result has shifted the model and schedule of every other Fight Night card for the rest of the calender year. But what of Conor McGregor vs. Rafael dos Anjos?

Skip to page 2 for the rest of the article…

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UFC 196 Now Headlined By McGregor-Dos Anjos, 2/6 Event Renamed UFC Fight Night 82

As a result of the mess that is the originally planned UFC 196 pay-per-view on February 6th, Conor McGregor vs. Rafael Dos Anjos will now no longer be headlining the UFC 197 event scheduled for March.

UFC announced on Wednesday that due to the cance…

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As a result of the mess that is the originally planned UFC 196 pay-per-view on February 6th, Conor McGregor vs. Rafael Dos Anjos will now no longer be headlining the UFC 197 event scheduled for March.

UFC announced on Wednesday that due to the cancellation of the Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum fight, and then the cancellation of the Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic replacement fight, the UFC 196 pay-per-view, which was originally announced as being headlined by Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, will now be referred to as UFC Fight Night 82.

UFC 197, which was scheduled for March 5th, will now be called UFC 196, but will still be headlined by the aforementioned McGregor vs. Dos Anjos UFC Lightweight title fight.

How this affects future events, such as the landmark UFC 200 event scheduled for July 9th, remains to be seen. It’s worth noting that while the fights, dates and venues will remain as scheduled, the name of the events coming up in the next few weeks and months could be a disaster to try and follow.

Fabricio Werdum Responds To UFC 196 Haters: Are You Happy With Your Life?

The UFC may be heading to Newark, New Jersey, for this weekend’s (Sat., January 30, 2016) UFC on FOX 18, but almost the entire focus of the collective MMA world is fixated on Cain Velasquez’s withdrawal from his UFC 196 heavyweight title rematch against current champion Fabricio Werdum on February 6 from Las Vegas. The

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The UFC may be heading to Newark, New Jersey, for this weekend’s (Sat., January 30, 2016) UFC on FOX 18, but almost the entire focus of the collective MMA world is fixated on Cain Velasquez’s withdrawal from his UFC 196 heavyweight title rematch against current champion Fabricio Werdum on February 6 from Las Vegas.

The story goes that Velasquez pulled out of yet another title fight due a back injury, and rising No. 2 heavyweight Stipe Miocic was signed to replace the oft-injured former champion. It was a large blow to an already somewhat weak pay-per-view (PPV) card, but things only sank when Werdum withdrew from the short-notice bout the next day after claiming back and foot injuries of his own.

ufc 180 weigh ins live stream

Disappointing yet understandable; however, things truly hit the proverbial fan when Werdum came out and admitted that he would have fought through the presumably nagging injuries if Velasquez were able to fight at the event. The puzzling statement not surprisingly elicited a rather negative backlash directed at Werdum, most of which was the to-be-expected belief that he was ‘scared’ and wasn’t willing to step up and save an event for his employers.

While there is certainly merit to both sides of the discussion, ultimately Werdum simply had too much at stake to risk in a short notice bout against a dangerous but largely unpopular champion, one where his PPV points weren’t likely to be all that good as a result. Whether you can accept Werdum’s points of view or not, the currently targeted champion spoke up in a detailed statement (courtesy of MMA Fighting) explaining his decision.

Hop to the next page to find out what Werdum thinks about his choice and his critics….

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UFC 196 Pulled Off PPV, New Main Event Announced For FS1 Card On 2/6

Well, UFC finally made an official decision.

With Cain Velasquez pulling out, followed by Fabricio Werdum, the UFC 196 pay-per-view has officially been scrapped.

UFC President Dana White announced to Yahoo! Sports that UFC 196 will be pulled from…

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Well, UFC finally made an official decision.

With Cain Velasquez pulling out, followed by Fabricio Werdum, the UFC 196 pay-per-view has officially been scrapped.

UFC President Dana White announced to Yahoo! Sports that UFC 196 will be pulled from pay-per-view and moved to FOX Sports 1, with Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson scheduled as the new main event for the FS1 card.

UFC 196: Hendricks vs. Thompson is scheduled for February 6, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

UFC 196 Moved from Pay-Per-View to Fox Sports 1 After Main Event Cancellation

UFC 196 isn’t cancelled, but it isn’t going to be on pay-per-view, either. Following the collapse of the card’s main event, the UFC has opted to pull UFC 196 off of pay-per-view and put it on its regular television broadcast partner, Fox Sports 1.&nbsp…

UFC 196 isn’t cancelled, but it isn’t going to be on pay-per-view, either. Following the collapse of the card’s main event, the UFC has opted to pull UFC 196 off of pay-per-view and put it on its regular television broadcast partner, Fox Sports 1. The announcement came from UFC President Dana White through Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole.

The decision was prompted by the sudden withdrawals of UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum and his challenger, Cain Velasquez. That title fight, a rematch of their UFC 188 clash which Werdum won via submission, served as the backbone to UFC 196’s pay-per-view status. Unfortunately, within the span of 24 hours, both Werdum and Velasquez would pull out of the fight with back injuries.

With the card less than two weeks away, cobbling together a replacement main event was next to impossible. What’s more, there were no realistic options elsewhere on the card, with the co-headliner being a solid—but only solid—welterweight tilt between Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson.

Rather than cancelling the event entirely, as they did with UFC 151 and UFC 176, the UFC is instead calling an audible by moving the card to cable television. While other numbered UFC events have been broadcasted outside of pay-per-view in the past (UFC 122, for example, aired on same-day tape delay on Spike TV), this is the first time the UFC has moved an intact card off of pay-per-view.

Though a Werdum-less UFC 196 was unlikely to be worth the asking price, the remaining fights combine for a strong Fox Sports 1 card. In addition to the headliner, there are other interesting matchups in Jared Rosholt vs. Roy Nelson, Joseph Benavidez vs. Zach Makovsky and Derrick Lewis vs. Damian Grabowski.

Though the changes leave the UFC heavyweight title picture a complete mess, fans will still get a solid night of fights out of it. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 196 Moved To FOX Sports 1, Hendricks vs. Wonderboy Now Headlines

After a veritable media windfall erupted when Cain Velasquez pulled out of his scheduled main event title bout against Fabricio Werdum at February 6’s UFC 196, the promotion has decided they could not save the pay-per-view (PPV) event and has been forced to air it live on FOX Sports 1 instead. Werdum was originally slated

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After a veritable media windfall erupted when Cain Velasquez pulled out of his scheduled main event title bout against Fabricio Werdum at February 6’s UFC 196, the promotion has decided they could not save the pay-per-view (PPV) event and has been forced to air it live on FOX Sports 1 instead.

Werdum was originally slated to face late replacement Stipe Miocic in the event’s headliner, but pulled out yesterday one day after the announcement, citing both back and foot injuries as a reason. But ‘Vai Cavalo’ curiously said he would have fought if it were Velasquez across the Octagon, which evoked a doubtful response from many.

MMA fans hoping out hope that a deal could be somehow brokered for former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to face Miocic for the heavyweight title will have to quell their expectations, as the decent but not headliner-worthy welterweight bout between former champion Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson will now serve as the depleted event’s featured bout.

Other options included former champ Josh Barnett willing to step in and face Miocic for the interim title, but ultimately not one heavyweight bout could be made for the depleted and stagnating division to save the card’s PPV status.

With the announcement, here is the card’s full lineup as of now:

MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET):

Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen Thompson
Roy Nelson vs. Jared Rosholt
Rafael Cavalcante vs. Ovince Saint Preux
Joseph Benavidez vs. Zach Makovsky

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET):

Josh Burkman vs. K.J. Noons
Damian Grabowski vs. Derrick Lewis
Mike Pyle vs. Sean Spencer
Misha Cirkunov vs. Alex Nicholson

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6 p.m. ET):

Mickey Gall vs. Mike Jackson
Artem Lobov vs. Alex White
Ray Borg vs. Justin Scoggins
Noad Lahat vs. Diego Rivas

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